Reading Between The Lines
by L.Hawk
Summary: In which Russia and Belarus actually have a normal conversation for once. Features one sided RusBel, one sided RusAm and mentions of past RoChu.


He closes his eyes and wishes he could be friends with Alfred. Their bosses are friends and their countries have diplomatic relations, so he can't understand why every time Alfred looks at him there is such coldness in his eyes and it's clear that he doesn't want to forgive him for their past and it makes him want to cry sometimes, but he just smiles, because that's what they both have to do.

The phone rings and he glances at the caller ID in case it's his boss, or maybe, hope of all hopes, it's Alfred calling to say, "Sorry I was so harsh with you, let's be friends."

He almost disconnects it when he see's it's his little sister Natalia, but he's so lonely right now, and he has missed talking to his sisters since the break-up of the Soviet Union. He won't talk to anybody else tonight if he doesn't pick up this phone; Yao and he haven't talked since the split, not even when the Soviet Union fell because his boss says Yao is an unhealthy reminder of the past and is to be avoided. The thought of yet another night spent completely alone terrifies him more even then his little sister, so he picks up the phone and says, "Pryvet?"

Ivan has caller ID, so if she calls him, he often doesn't answer or simply picks up the phone and tells her to stop calling him. She calls him anyway though, because she's sure that one day, he'll see that they are meant to be together and stop telling her to go away. She has nothing to cling to but this hope, so she keeps trying to get him to marry her, because she knows that nothing but him will ever make her life complete.

When he picks up and says "Pryvet", her heart leaps in her chest and all she can say is "brother," because even a scolding is better than being completely ignored by her beloved brother, which is the outcome of her calls most of time; she has a nagging feeling he doesn't even listen to the messages she leaves but she has to keep trying; and a neutral greeting without any rebuke is better even than that and is beyond her wildest dreams.

He says, "Da, sister, it is me." He always calls her that, first and foremost because it's true and there is a chance, however slim, that it will deter her wanting to marry him, which he knows is futile, because she always says, "Brother, let's get married." Though she hasn't said a word about marriage yet, so he takes that as a good sigh, and continues, "How are you?" before she can bring the topic up.

She is surprised at that. Although she knows he loves her, she is his sister after all and he told her that she would always be his sister when Katyusha was pulling her out the door of the Soviet Union house, he doesn't often show concern for her. She swoons at this thought and says, "I am doing quite well." She isn't sure what to say after that, but Katyusha always said that being concerned about somebody showed you loved them and she wants to show him that, so she says, "How are you doing brother?"

He considered his answer carefully. If he was honest he was feeling rather lonely, but if he told her that, she would probably start going on about getting married again, beside which she was still his sister and he didn't want to worry her, but it feels wrong to just say he's fine when he is this upset. He decided to say something true but not tell her the whole truth, "I'm a little tired. The meeting today was rather difficult." He doesn't say who he met with, fearing it might upset her.

She wants to say that if he married her he wouldn't be as tired, but it sounds weak even in her own mind, and she knows he doesn't like it when she says things that he dubs to be ridiculous, even if she finds them to be quite reasonable and she knows that if she can see that its weak then he will certainly be able to see it and she doesn't want to upset him during the first real conversation they've had in a while so she settles for, "then you should make sure to get to bed early tonight."

The fact that someone is at least somewhat concerned for him makes him fell all warm on the inside, even though he has a voice that's telling him it's because she wants to marry him. He knows that her concern is genuine though and that is nice. He smiles slightly and says, "Perhaps you are right sister." That basically ends the first part of their conversation and he casts around for another topic of conversation to keep them off marriage. He thinks of all the times he'd watch with some jealously as other countries made small talk, looking for something that could help him. He recalls that they often talk about the weather, though if he tries to talk about the weather, they are uncomfortable and make some excuse not to talk to him, but Natalia is his sister, she won't try to find such an excuse. He says, "Howis the weather in Minsk right now?"

She can't believe her brother of all people is asking about the weather. She's seen other countries talk about the weather at world conferences. They never include her in their conversations and she has no wish to join in, but she's seen the way they reject conversation with her brother, and she knows that her brother just wants to talk to her, and she can delude herself that it's because he's facinated with the sound of her voice. She can't deny her brother anything, and so she indulges him, "The sky is clear and it is rather warm; perfect weather for a wedding." She can't resist throwing in a not-so-subtle plea into her words, but she's afraid to ask him outright for fear he'll get mad, because there is a small chance, however slim, that he will smile and say, "Let's get married tonight." It's about the same chance as Alfred calling and asking to be friends, but they both cling to this miniscule bit of hope.

On the other end of the line, Ivan sighs. He knew she would try to bring marriage into their conversation. She didn't bring it up out right, which he was grateful for, so he decided to just ignore that fact or rather, pretend it was just a coincidence, a passing thought and not meant for him. He said, "But it's night time, Da. You can't get married at night." he figures the best way to do things is to throw a wrench in the works by rebutting her argument.

She knows she can't just let the point drop, not in this new strategy of getting her brother to marry her, or at least admit the possibility. Thus she chooses her next works carefully to have the intended double meaning, "People assign too many conventions to marriage."And they both know she doesn't just mean marrying at night, but marring your own siblings, because she knows it's just that convention that is holding her brother back.

Ivan bites his lip. Their conversation has become an extended metaphor and he doesn't quite know what to say next, because he doesn't want to seem like he supports the idea of them getting married just to give her false hope, but he doesn't want to break the metaphor or/and upset her either. He settles for a rather neutral, "Perhaps they do." keeping his answer vague to keep her from putting too much stock in his reply. He knows he needs to steer the topic away from this metaphor and marige in general, so, not knowing what to do, he goes back to the weather, "It must be nice to have such beautiful weather. It's starting to get colder in Moscow."

She wants to tell him that she would rather be in Moscow no matter how cold it gets because it's his capital, and she wants to tell him that it might just feel cold because he's lonely, the implied meaning being that he wouldn't be so cold if they got married, but she's not sure how he'd take it, and she likes just hearing his voice not yelling at her, so she has to think of something else to say, and suddenly she is struck by a brilliant idea, "Then maybe you should come to Minsk." She knows it's daring, but it makes so much sense that he can't argue with it, and there is the slight possibility that he will say yes.

He frowns slightly at the offer, but it's not a marriage proposal and that's a start, and he's grateful for the fact that he could wiggle his way out of it easily by telling her that he's busy in Moscow, which isn't a lie, because there is always more paperwork to be done. He suddenly thinks of a brilliant way to get him out of the visit, even if he kind of wants to go a little bit, but he knows it will end with a marriage proposal if he does, so he says, "I do not think my boss would allow that."

She picks up on his subtle hint that their bosses would not allow a union between them as countries, and they are bound to their bosses' wishes. She knows they could elope though, or at least she thinks it might be possible, even though that is going against every convention in the history of nations, because he love for her brother is that strong, so she says, "You do not have to tell your boss everything you know."

There's nothing he can say to that, since countries have always kept secrets from their bosses. He really doesn't know how to respond to that, so he brings the conversation back to its beginning, "Perhaps you are right. In any case, I need to get to bed. Good night Sister."

She frowns a little; she had been enjoying their conversation, but she does want to make sure her brother gets enough sleep, so she says, "Good night Brother. I love you." and she hopes against hope that he'll say it back.

He can't not say he loves her, because she's his sister, but he doesn't want to give her the wrong idea. Then again, he has two sisters, and if he can lump them together, then he can convey that he only loves her in a sisterly way, "I love you too sister. I miss having you and Katyusha around. Goodnight, and sweet dreams." He hangs up the phone before she can respond.

She sighs when she hear the dial tone, and even though their conversation is over, she's still in ecstasy, because he admitted that he loved her. And even if it's only sisterly affection now, she's sure that it will grow into something more. Just as Russia knows, as he lays down to sleep, that things will be better between him and Alfred tomorrow.

A/N I found this mostly done while I was looking through my computer files, and I thought, since I finally caught a break on my school work and have been trying to ease myself back into fanfiction writing, that I should finish and publish it. Sadly I do not own Hetalia.


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